A Fresh Camry

Posted on by Derek Price
Cargazing
By Derek Price

It’s no secret that sedan sales have been tanking in America as buyers crave crossovers and SUVs.

Ford famously dropped sedans entirely from its lineup in recent years, and Chevrolet appears to be following suit after whittling its four-door-family-car lineup down to a single aging model, the Malibu.

Some writers are predicting the demise of the traditional sedan entirely. If there’s only one left standing at the end of the carnage, though, I think it will be this one: the Toyota Camry.

The Camry is one of the rare sedans that still enjoys strong sales in the modern era. Around 290,000 copies were purchased last year, enough to continue its reign as the best-selling sedan in America with no sign of letting up.

With an all-new generation of the Camry being released for 2025 — making it one of the few sedans receiving a major investment these days — one has to wonder exactly what Toyota would do, if anything, to turn the tides.

Would it make the Camry look tougher to woo some SUV buyers? Would it make a special off-road version or offer a roof rack on top?

Fortunately, after Toyota released pictures and details of the new model in recent weeks, we now know the answer is a resounding “no.” The 2025 Camry is more of the same, just — if you believe the press release — better.

 

Toyota’s new-generation Camry will look very different when it hits America’s highways as a 2025 model.

There are some big changes coming to it. For starters, every single version is going to come with a hybrid powertrain. It’s also making all-wheel drive (AWD) available on every grade, an obvious nod to those SUV buyers who need traction in all kinds of weather.

A 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine will be paired with two electric motors to create a combined 225 horsepower. AWD versions get a bit more power with 232 horses.

Based on pictures, this ninth-generation Camry should turn heads with its sleek new design. While this car built its reputation on frugality, dependability and staid styling in the 1980s and ‘90s, it’s gotten more outlandish in recent years. The new 2025 model isn’t as wild looking as the outgoing generation, to my eyes, but is trim and sleek in the vein of a handsome sports sedan.

Inside, this new generation seems to take a bigger break from tradition.

I’ll go out on a limb — well, maybe not much of a limb — and say this is the best-looking cabin a Camry has ever had. It’s airy, modern and even sleeker than the body. It also appears to be centered around the driver, the kind of design that could easily be penned for a new sports car, albeit a roomy one.

And yes, you can get the cockpit in red.

 

A red interior will be available on sporty grades of the 2025 Camry.

Granted, after decades of beige-on-beige blandness, the Camry doesn’t face a high hurdle to top its best-looking interior. Historically its buyers have been more interested in how it holds up over time, including that all-important sense of solidity and tight construction that makes a Toyota buyer feel borderline smug.

Having only seen it in pictures, I can’t vouch for whether the cabin’s feel matches the snazzy look. I can only hope that it lives up to this car’s reputation for being built to survive a nuclear apocalypse without developing a squeak or rattle.

It should be no surprise that the new Camry also participates in the Great Touchscreen Wars of the 2020s. This new version comes with a standard 8-inch screen at the lower end and 12.3 inches on higher-end trims.

Other standard features include wireless charging, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, along with both kinds of USB charging ports, Type A and Type C. There are three up front and two in back.

Pricing and fuel economy have not been announced. Expect both those numbers to arrive closer to its release date, which should be sometime this spring, Toyota says.

At A Glance

Expected price: Not announced yet
Power: 2.5-liter gasoline engine and two electric motors (combined 225 hp)
Standard wheels: 18 inches
Screen size: 8 inches (LE and SE), 12.3 inches (XLE and XSE)
Expected release: Spring 2024
Fuel economy: Not rated yet

PREDICTED RATINGS
Style: 9
Performance: 6
Price: 8
Handling: 7
Ride: 8
Comfort: 9
Quality: 9
Overall: 8

Why buy it?
An all-new design brings a fresh perspective to America’s best-selling sedan. Every new-generation Camry will be a hybrid, and its interior is the best this car has ever looked.

Posted in Toyota

Chevy Announces New SUVs

Posted on by Derek Price
Cargazing
By Derek Price

Looking into America’s automotive crystal ball for the year to come, one thing is clear.

Not everyone will be switching to electric vehicles.

While General Motors likes to brag about its significant investment in EVs, it’s also continuing to pour money into developing the next generation of full-size trucks and SUVs that will create most of its profit for the foreseeable future.

That includes dropping $500 million into the Arlington, Texas, assembly plant where GM builds its biggest Chevy and GMC vehicles.

It won’t be long before drivers can see the fruits from this investment hitting the highways. Chevrolet announced recently that all-new versions of the Tahoe and Suburban will be released later this year as 2025 models.

Some of the changes are predictable, including visual updates that make the new SUVs look a lot fresher inside and out.

The cabin is designed to more closely mimic a European luxury sedan. It looks very contemporary and comes with more soft-touch materials than before, plus new piano black and chrome trim choices.

In the never-ending battle for touch-screen-size supremacy, these new SUVs up the ante with 17.7 inches.

 

Chevrolet has redesigned its full-size SUVs for 2025, including the Tahoe RST, shown here.

Outside, Chevy’s big SUVs get a redesigned grille with new signature lighting, including lighting animations on the Premier and High Country trims that give owners a flashy welcome when they arrive to the vehicle at night.
“Ride and handling enhancements” are another no-brainer update for a new model, but I’ll wait to pass judgement until I can feel it for myself.

To me, the biggest tech surprise is the addition of what Chevy calls Connected Cameras.

For years, 360-degree video cameras have been the norm on high-end vehicles to help when parking or backing up, giving the driver a bird’s-eye view of the vehicle’s surroundings.

Connected Cameras take this idea two steps further.

One, this feature lets you log in and view what the cameras are seeing remotely like an online security camera for your car. You could check who’s snooping around your car, or creepily spy on valets or teenage drivers.

Two, it can record events like crashes or thefts. That makes sense considering the widespread, pragmatic adoption of dash cams in many parts of the world to record car wrecks, which are sometimes intentionally cause by scammers or unintentionally caused by idiots.

 

A new cabin design makes the 2025 Tahoe and Suburban look more like European luxury cars on the inside, including a massive integrated 17.7-inch touchscreen.

With Connected Cameras, you can have a visual record of exactly what happened from your vehicle’s perspective.

At launch, Chevrolet says the Tahoe and Suburban will be available with two gasoline engines. A 5.3-liter V8 remains the standard engine, delivering 355 horsepower. Buyers can also opt for a 6.2-liter V8 that makes 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque.

The bigger V8 is standard on the High Country model and optional on the RST, Z71 and Premier trims.

Even more enticing, Chevrolet announced that a new 3.0-liter Duramax turbocharged diesel engine will be available with 10 percent more horsepower than current models. It will be available on all trims, including the Z71.

GM is vague about when the new diesel will be available, simply saying it will be “later in production.” If you want your 2025 SUV early, it will need to be the gasoline versions for now.

While pricing for the all-new models has not been announced, in all likelihood it will be a bit higher than the 2024 SUVs. Right now, the Tahoe starts at $56,200, while the bigger Suburban is priced from $59,200.

 

At A Glance

Expected price: Not announced yet
Engine: 5.3-liter V8 (355 hp, 383 lbs.-ft.)
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Brakes: Four-wheel disc with ABS
Wheel size: 18-24 inches
Fuel capacity: 24 gallons
Payload: 1,834 lbs.
Trailering: 8,400 lbs.

Predicted Ratings

Style: 8
Performance: 9
Price: 5
Handling: 6
Ride: 8
Comfort: 8
Quality: 7
Overall: 8

Why buy it?

A fresh look and new features bring the Tahoe and Suburban into the next generation. A massive touchscreen and new technology, including Connected Cameras, are among a long list of upgrades.

Posted in Chevrolet

Ford vs. Ferrari, Again

Posted on by Derek Price
Cargazing
By Derek Price

While Americans are still pulling the shiny cellophane wrapper off 2024, car companies are already looking ahead to what’s next.

In Ford’s case, that means unveiling a new iteration of the timeless Mustang, and fortunately not another battery-powered one this time.

Called the Mustang GTD, Ford claims it can take on the best European sports cars with an obscenely high price tag to match, costing around $300,000. Production is expected to start late this year or early 2025.

At that price — roughly 10 times as much as a base EcoBoost Mustang — it had better beat European supercars on their home turf.

That’s exactly what Ford plans to do, targeting a sub-7-minute time around the legendary Nurburgring racetrack where the world’s most prestigious cars have been wrung out for decades.

How will it do that?

The GTD starts with something very familiar in Mustang history: raw horsepower.

 

Ford has announced the Mustang GTD, priced around $300,000, will be available late this year or early 2025. This street-legal care car is designed to take on Europe’s best sports cars.

Engineers are still tuning and refining a special 5.2-liter supercharged V8 to create the most powerful street-legal Mustang ever. They’re targeting 800 horsepower with a screaming redline of 7,500 RPM, although exact power figures aren’t released yet for this 2025-model-year supercar.

To break the 7-minute mark on the Nurburgring, the GTD needs a couple of things the Mustang isn’t historically known for: light weight and aerodynamic trickery.

On the first front, Ford already has plenty of experience from its racing division in how to shave pounds off for the track. Substantial use of carbon fiber in the body, cabin, driveshaft and other locations not only help to make it dramatically lighter than a standard Mustang but also give the GTD 50/50 weight distribution between the front and rear axles.

On the second front — aerodynamic trickery — Ford is doing things on the GTD that are banned in many forms of racing. It uses active systems and sensors to change the angle of the rear wing and open or close flaps under the front of the car to shape the air as needed. That helps to reduce drag for faster straightaways and add downforce for faster cornering, ultimately quickening its time around the ‘Ring.

At least part of its $300,000 price will be paying for all the testing Ford is doing with aerodynamic simulations on supercomputers and real-world tests at tracks such as Road Atlanta and Spa in Belgium.

Why go to all this trouble for a car that will never have mass-market appeal?

 

A hydraulic system can change the angle of the giant rear wing on the Mustang GTD, helping it go faster in straight lines and create more downforce in corners.

Part of it is bragging rights, of course, along with the warm marketing glow that can come from producing a seductive halo car like this.

Very few people can afford an 800-horsepower, street-legal race car made of carbon fiber, but it will help sell more attainable Mustangs at Ford dealers all across the American heartland.

Ford boss Jim Farley also sees its boundary-pushing creation as a model for how he wants the company to operate all the time.

“Mustang GTD represents the very best of Ford Motor Company and what our team needs to do every day,” Farley said. “This is what happens when we take what we’re good at and push the boundaries to see where the bubble stops.”

Apparently, that bubble stops somewhere in Europe, where the long Ford vs. Ferrari rivalry that has been chronicled in books and movies continues brewing in the present day.

At A Glance

Expected price: Approximately $300,000
Engine: 5.2-liter supercharged V8 (targeting 800 hp)
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch
Oiling system: Dry sump
Front suspension: Multimatic ASV dampers with unequal-length control arms
Rear suspension: Multilink, push-rod style setup with inboard-mounted ASV dampers and coil springs
Brakes: Brembo brake calipers with carbon-ceramic rotors

PREDICTED RATINGS

Style: 7
Performance: 10
Price: 2
Handling: 10
Ride: 2
Comfort: 3
Quality: 7
Overall: 8

Why buy it?
It’s a modern-day twist on the Ford vs. Ferrari storyline. Ford is creating the GTD to take on the best European sports cars on their own turf.

Posted in Ford

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